I think it was about ten years ago, some Australian researchers had a paper showing how they changed something in a mousepox virus DNA and turned it into a 100% lethal virus for mice. The paper was posted at a convention for people doing virus research, and when some of the scientists saw it open to view by anybody there- when they realized just what it was- they threw fits, for the same reasons in this article.

Of course, they also threw fits and had nightmares- for good reason- when, after the Soviet Union fell apart, they found out just what kind of stuff the Soviets had been developing for bio-warfare.

probably too much information except for specialists, but the H and N proteins are: The H stands for one of the 16 different hemagglutinin proteins contained in a virus that allows it to penetrate a foreign body. The "N" stands for another protein in the genetic make-up of a flu virus called neuraminidase, of which there currently exist nine variations.

Yes, but neither are in large supply in the average American household. On the other hand, just about everyone has a baseball or softball bat of some kind. Blunt weapons don't require as much upkeep and can easily be replaced.

Yes, RJ, keeping them at a distance is preferred, but you have to plan on them not going along with that.

I actually think this is the most likely scenario for how humanity will end.

A handful of talented nuts are all that is needed to take us out 12 Monkeys style. Whip up half a dozen killer bugs, several are needed because one bug won’t kill everyone, and they are ready to go. The technology is now cheap enough for people to set up labs in their homes and is getting cheaper everyday.

The type of security measures needed to prevent this type of disaster will make us pine for the good old days when they only felt everyone up and took pictures through our clothes.

It’s probably not wise to allow Amazon to sell Improvised Munitions and Booby Traps either, but we live in a free society, so risks have to be accepted. I have yet to turn on my automobile and have it explode in a giant ball of fire, from a car bomb, nor has anyone burned down my place of employment with a dust bomb…and yet I imagine one can learn how to do both, fairly readily.

What’s dangerous is letting you Althouse Smurf-tards roam the streets spreading your vile SatanistWiccan Propaganda…ScottM are you still “on” about this Zombie Apocalypse…. Olía a su padre de elderberries

BTW, did someone run my “Hero” off, did the power get turned off in his mother’s basement, did the men with butterfly nets finally catch him?

"“Sixty days and a wake up, boys. This is the last one and then we get to go home for good. Remember the heavier gravity, watch your fire sectors and for God’s sake don’t die or I’ll shoot you in the head myself to make sure you stay dead,” said the major.

Roger J...But if the 30% who get sick have also been weakened in their immune systems from a starvation time caused by a famine induced the by same government's CO2 is a pollutant hoax that justified restrictions on use of cheap oil, gas and coal ? Then what happens to morbidity rates?

In 1918-1920 the Spanish Influenza had a morbidity rate closer to 20% and a third of the world caught it causing about 3% of the world's population to die.

We'll see. It was a nice idea for a short story that exploded once I got to know the characters and the twist involved. I had thought that the zombie fiction market was played out and didn't think much for using it other than a warm up to start writing again. What I found out was that the genre is still alive (undead?) and kicking and that they are constantly looking for a new twist or a cross-genre title to freshen things up.

You may be confusing the virus in this report, H5N1 (Avian influenza), with novel H1N1 influenza. H5N1 has a case-fatality rate of 60%, but it is not very contagious. The case fatality rate of H1N1 is about 1%, but it is highly contagious.

A couple of things to think about - 1: You don't need to kill everyone to destroy humanity. It would take something like a 10-15% mortality in any given culture to pretty much destroy that particular culture's cohesiveness. At that point, things break down and the rest of the fatal diseases (cholera, typhus, etc.) and activities show up (riots, famine, environmental concerns, etc).

Virus' mutate all the time. The "Spanish Flu" appeared out of nowhere, killed millions and then disappeared.

I am fully convinced that scientist are some of the dumbest people I have ever been around. "Lets design a bigger, better killer of humanity, and give it away to suicidal monkeys" As Dr. Ian Malcolm said "Yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether they could that they didn't stop to think if they should."--Jurassic Park

From the article:"The big question: Should the results be made public?"

Define "public". No one's in favor of giving it completely unrestricted publication so that malicious individuals in the world can use the knowledge for harm. But at the same time, this information shouldn't be suppressed. The knowledge behind the transformation can also be the knowledge that leads to a vaccine.

I'd have no problem at all with a dissemination model that has an NDA and restricts specifics to medical researchers. To me, that's utterly fair.